てある [Grammar]

turvy

先輩
Joined
27 Jan 2012
Messages
54
Reaction score
1
ドア閉めてある
The door is closed. (The door has been closed? or just the door is in the closed / shut / not-open state? like I have no idea how it came to be that way.)

I read that this grammar form basically makes a transitive verb into a passive and that is always written in the present tense. For this reason it only uses transitive verbs like 閉める.

But happens when I use an intransitive verb like 閉まる?

ドア閉まる。
The door closes.

ドア閉まった。
The door (was) closed.

Now, what about their passive voice?

S1.ドア閉まられる。
S2.ドア閉まられた。
?

and since Japanese intransitive verbs can actually take objects to express an undesirable situation to the subject of the sentence we also have:

O1.(X)ドア閉まられる。
(X) is being closed by the door. (The door closes affecting the subject X, i.e., X is being affected by it.)

O2.(X)ドア閉まられた。
(X) was closed by the door. (The door was closed affecting the subject X, i.e., X was affected by it.)

--

Question: What did I get wrong?, you could help me understand this better by correcting the sentences.
 
Last edited:
Probably you misread the textbook. ~てある form is basically used only for volitional transitive verbs, and expresses the current state that results from prior movements as same as ~ている form of instantaneous verbs. As a matter of fact, some intransitive verbs have ~てある form, but the verb must be volitional, too. Unlike ~ている, ~てある form suggests the existence of the doer(the person who closed the door, for instance) or the action is done beforehand for a purpose(The door closed in the past and the current state of the door is closed for a purpose.) ~てある form is more important for transitive verbs that don't have the counterpart of transitive-intransitive pair.

Indeed, some kind of intransitive verb can have the passive form, but they must be unergative. 閉まる is unaccusative, therefore 閉まられる is wrong.

BTW, isn't this topic appropriate for "Learning Japanese" section?;-)
 
Last edited:
Thanks for pointing that out, I will move my questions there in the future.
 
Back
Top Bottom